The rundown

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, July 3, 2005

Petco Park is nice, unless you're a reliever on a visiting team and need to use the bathroom.

The Mariners visited the Padres' new yard, and their relievers weren't exactly relieved. Without a bathroom in the bullpen, which is up the right- field line and across the field from the visiting dugout, lefty Matt Thornton climbed a fence to get to a public toilet, where he had to wait in line.

"I met a guy named Stan, who invented a baseball cap with a handle so you can take it off fast to catch foul balls," Thornton told the Seattle Times. "He said he tested it at a batting cage on pitches at 75 mph and caught five before the seams started to give out."

Thornton didn't go back..

SAY WHAT?

"It wasn't as passionate as I expected."

-- Cleveland's Aaron Boone, who expected more booing on his first trip to Boston since his Game 7 homer led the Yankees past the Red Sox in the 2003

ALCS.

SHEA HEY

The Orioles know so little about being this close to first place this late in the season, you wonder if they know how to respond.

We're not talking about the players as much as management.

As the July 31 trade deadline approaches, there seems to be a debate over whether they should sacrifice the future and make deals that would better enable a playoff push or go with the status quo and not harm their chances to win again next year.

It's an easy call. Any year the Yankees are down is a year to take advantage of a rare situation. Even if the Red Sox run away with the AL East, there's no shame in contending for a wild card after wild-card teams won the World Series the past three seasons.

Reports indicate the Orioles are pursuing Marlins pitcher A.J. Burnett, who can be a free agent after the season, but the Marlins would demand a chunk of Baltimore's future, beginning with a top pitching prospect, Hayden Penn or Daniel Cabrera.

The Orioles also are linked to Jason Schmidt.

No longer in first place, they're desperate for another starter. Their fans understand this opportunity might not re-emerge anytime soon, and it would be a PR disaster to do nothing if their new rivals, the Washington Nationals, are the only team from the area in the postseason.

The Orioles must act, but you have to wonder about owner Peter Angelos' intentions. He has refused to pick up the 2006 option of manager Lee Mazzilli.

Hey, even Sammy Sosa digs Mazzilli, even after Mazzilli demoted him to sixth in the lineup. Remember what happened when Dusty Baker tried to do the same thing in Chicago last year? Not only is Sosa happily the No. 6 hitter, but he said he understands the decision and called Mazzilli possibly the best manager he's ever had.

Not that VPs Jim Beattie and Mike Flanagan have much say whether Mazzilli will return next year. Both their contracts expire after this season.